In 2017, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released information about the opioid epidemic that has spread across the country. Drug overdoses and opioid-involved deaths have continued to increase among teens and young adults, with teen prescription drug misuse and abuse on the rise for the last two decades. In the United States, many of these overdose and opioid deaths involve the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs. Teens and young adults are also abusing stimulants and depressants alongside opioids. Although schools, communities, and families have prevention and treatment options available to them, dangerous events, such as Pharm Parties, and easy access to pharmaceuticals have led to unintended consequences for teens. This article will highlight the significance of prescription drug misuse and discuss prevention and treatment options to mitigate the opioid epidemic. (Read more…)

Alcohol is the most widely consumed substance by youth and young adults, with many being exposed to alcohol in their formative years. Research has shown that underage alcohol consumption has numerous harmful effects on youth and young adults, ranging from poor school performance to alcohol-related deaths. However, prevention strategies, such as active parental involvement, school-based programs focusing on social influences, and open lines of communication have shown to be effective at reducing underage alcohol use. Additionally, although a mechanism by which peer pressure can be extended, social media messaging can be used for promoting prevention strategies and intervention efforts in regards to underage alcohol use. (Read more…)

Decades of research indicates that tobacco enforcement programs, particularly those focusing on youth access laws, are effective at reducing youth smoking. In contrast, very little evidence supports the notion that merely enacting youth access laws in the absence of proper enforcement support will impact prevalence rates of youth smoking in any way. Dating back to 1997, researchers studied the association between merchant compliance with the law. Current daily smoking was examined, and the results showed that states with a higher average of state merchant compliance predicted lower levels of current daily smoking among adolescents. (Read more…)

During the 2012-2013 school year, one school district in Texas confiscated e-cigarette products on nearly a daily basis. This is one of the many issues schools face as the number of U.S. students who try electronic cigarettes for the first time steadily increases. Approximately 263,000 6-12th grade public and private school students reported trying e-cigarettes in 2013 compared to only 79,000 students in 2011. Of these first-time e-cigarettes users, as many as 43.9% report an intention to smoke conventional cigarettes in the future, according to a publication from the Nicotine & Tobacco Research journal. (Read more…)

Over the past 20 years, teenagers have engaged in illicit drug use at high rates. This is largely due to the prevalence of marijuana use. Although marijuana use among teenagers declined beginning in the late 1990s, it has been increasing since the mid-2000s. According to the 2012 Monitoring the Future National Drug Use Survey, 6.5 percent of 8th graders, 17.0 percent of 10th graders, and 22.9 percent of 12th graders used marijuana in the past month. This represents an increase from 14.2 percent of 10th graders and 18.8 percent of 12th graders in 2007. Daily use has also increased with 6.5 percent of 12th graders using marijuana daily.(Read more…)

Each day, approximately 3,800 youth in the United States try a cigarette for the first time. Of these youth, an estimated 1,000 will become daily smokers (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
 Administration, 2011). The peak age for trying
cigarettes for the first time is between the ages of 11 and 13 years old (Johnston, O'Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2012b). Further, the U.S. Surgeon General reported that 88% of daily adult smokers used their first cigarette by the age of 18 and 99% before the age of 26 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Based on these statistics, the Surgeon General concluded that an estimated 80% of youth who currently smoke will continue to smoke into adult hood due to the addicting effects of nicotine (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Overall, more than 3.6 million youth under the age of 18 are current daily smokers (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). (Read more…)